Locomotive and car wheel grinding machine



March 27, 1951 I JULIAN AL 2,546,225

LOCOMOTIVE AND CAR WHEEL GRINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet l FIG. 1.

JAMES G. JULJAN Fm-zp A. DANIELS,Sr.

March 27, 1951 J, ULIAN ETAL 2,546,225

LOCOMOTIVE AND CAR WHEEL GRINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 27, 1951 AN ETAL 2,546,225

LOCOMOTIVE AND CAR WHEEL GRINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1949 4 Sheefts-Sheet 3 FIG. 3.

grwcmkuw. JAMES G.JUL|AN egg FRED A. DANIELS,Sr.

J. G. JULIAN ET AL LOCOMOTIVE AND CAR WHEEL GRINDING MACHINE Filed Sept 20, 1949 March 27, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 M UNR Patented Mar. 27, 1 951 LOCOMOTIVE AND CAR WHEEL GRINDING MACHI James G. J ulianand Fred A. Daniels, Sn,

. Columbia, S. 0.

Application September 20, 1949', Serial No. 116,716

This invention relates to an improved machine" for grinding the worn wheels of locomotives and cars, the primary object of the invention being to provide a more eflicient" and reliable machine of this character: either in a portable form suit able: for grinding: such wheels without removing them from the locomotives or cars, or in a stationary 'form' suitable for grinding such wheels whilerem'ove'd from the locomotives or cars.

Another importantobject of the invention is to provide a machine of the character indicated above capable of grinding a pair of wheels at a time on opposite sides of a locomotive or car.

. Other important objects-and advantageous fea turesof the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein, for illustration herein, a specific embodiment of the invention is set forth in detail.

1 In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an outboard end elevation showing the-machinepositioned to grind a car Wheel;

Figure 2- is a fragmentary side elevation looking from right to left in Figure 1;

. Figure 3 is a top panview of Figures 1 and. 2';

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the wheel-elevatmg means;

Figure 5. is a general schematic top plan view showing the machine arranged to simultaneously grind a pair. of the wheels.

Referring in detail to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, the numerals 6' designate companion rails supported on the ground '5' or other support, abovev which rails companion car or 1000- motive wheel'sB, a arepositioned and connected by an. axle 9,, journaledon. a spring bolster ill;

Therrails 6 are shown with the usual flanges H and heads I2.

The illustrated machine, when used without removal of the wheels 8 from, a locomotive or car, contemplates the use of wheel cradles 14 which tunction to elevate the wheels 8 above the rails 6 and to rotate the wheels while being ground. Each cradle. [4 comprises a pair of similar, longitudi'nally-spaced boxes l having laterally-spaced depending portions [6 to. straddle the related rail, and rest upon the opposite flanges [.2 thereof, as indicated in Figure ,2, the, portions It being equipped with setscrews I! to engage therail web [8, below itshead lZ. Thedepending portions have lateral enlargements 19 through which longitudinal bolts 20 extend along opposite sides of the. rail Band which are equipped with nuts 21' on their opposite ends to draw the boxes [5 to- 5 Claims. (Cl. 51-104) ward each other. Laterally-spaced upper portions 22 of the boxes are traversed by axles 23' carrying rollers 24 between the portions 22 tosupportaby engage the rim of the car wheel 8. One

pair of the axles 23 is operatively connected by a shaft 25, as shown in Figure 5, having a pulley,

26 thereon over which is trained a belt 21 driven by the electric motor 28, whereby the pair of wheels 8 is rotated together at the same speed, With the cradles [4 in place with the rollers 24 fore and aft of the wheels 8, the nuts 2| are tightened to bring the rollers closer together and thereby elevate the wheels above the rails so that the wheels can be rotated by the motor 28. Cur rent for operating the'motor 28' can be obtained fromany suitable source, such as the generator of a Diesel locomotive when the machine is usedto grind wheels of such a locomotive.

The motor 28 is mounted on a flat bar 29 laid across the rails 6' and having bolts 30 at its opposite ends operating clamp elements 3| arranged to engage under the outer sides of the rail heads I2, as indicated in Figure 1, to hold the bar 29 in;

place with the motor belt 21 tight.

The grinding component of the illustrated machine comprises a frame composed of a fiat, transversely-elongated bar 32, long enough to extend beyond the outboard sides of the rails 6 when laid thereon, and having pairs of spaced depending lugs 33 to engage opposite sides of the rails, as shown in Figure 2. Each end of the frame bar 32 has a vertical bracket plate 34 extending above and below the bar 32, having bolts 35 and 36 through its upper and lower portions,

respectively, which extend through the adjacent side wall 31 of a box-like component 38 having a horizontal top wall 39 and an open bottom.v Between the top Wall 39 and the lower end of the component 38 is a heavy plate 49 formed in its under side with a concave recess 4|, larger in diameter than a large ball bearing 42 which rests in a similar concavity 43 formed in the upper surface of a plate 44 placed upon a supporting block 45 resting upon the rail-supporting surface; 1 outside the adjacent rail 6. The thickness of the block 45 is chosen to support the frame bar 32 above the rail head 12. The freedom provided the ball bearing 42 to roll slightly in any direction or to move universally in the recesses 4i and l}! enables the frame to move relative to the rails 6 by the eccentric motion-of out-of-round Wheels while being ground without upsetting the accuracy and concentricity of the wheel-grinding action of the machine.

Bolted, as indicated at 4 6, to the top plate 39 of each frame component 38 is the lower bed plate 41 having a tenon slide portion 48 with which is conformably engaged the similarly-shaped channel 49 of the intermediate or transverse bed plate 50. A traversing screw is arranged through the lower bed plate 41 and engaged in a conventional manner (not shown) with the intermediate bed plate 50, whereby rotation of the handle 52 can move the intermediate bed plate 50 in an inboard or an outboard direction. Similarly keyed on the intermediate bed plate 53 for longitudinal movement atright angles to the intermediate bed plate is the upper bed plate 53. A traversing screw 54 is arranged through the intermediate bed plate 50 and connected to the upper bed plate 53 in a conventional manner (not shown) and the screw 54 has an operating handle 55 for producing movement toward and away from the wheel 8 to be ground.

Bolted on the top of the upper bed plate 55, as indicated at 55, is another and more powerful electric motor 51 whose shaft 58 projects in an inboard direction and has mounted thereon the grinding wheel 59, which, with the motor 51 running, is adapted to be moved across the rim of the wheel 8 in contact therewith by manipulation of the traversing screw handles 52 and 55.

The handles 52 and 55 are manipulated to cause a guide roller 55 on a depending support 6! on the wheel side of the frame component 38 to follow a guide opening 52 in a horizontal guide plate 63 projecting from the same side of the component 38, whereby the face of the wheel 3 will be correctly ground.

'Concentricity of the grinding action of the machine with respect to the center of the wheel axle 9 is obtained and maintained by means of a rigid arm 64 projecting upwardly at an acute angle from the lower part of the frame component 58 at the outboard end thereof, as indicated in Figures 1 and 3, and terminating at its upper end in a cylindrical head 65 traversed by a horizontal centering pin 65 on which is threaded a lock nut 56' for engaging the head 55, the centering pin having a point on its inboard end to engage in a hole 58 provided in the end of the wheel axle 9.

With the centering pins 86 engaged in the holes in the ends of the car wheel axle 9 and the wheels 8 supported by the cradles [4 being rotated by the motor 28 and the grinding wheels 59 rotated in engagement with the rims of the wheels, any eccentricity or out-of-roundness of the wheel of wheels will cause the frame of the machine to rock on the ball bearings 42 without losing concentricity with respect to the wheel axle, and the grinding wheels 59 will operate continuously upon the rims of the wheels 8 at the same distance from the centers of the wheels, thereby accurately truing the wheels.

Where existing obstructions around the wheels 8 make desirable the placing of the grinding motor assemblies between the wheels 8 rather than in the outboard relation above described, the intermediate bed plates 50 can be taken off the lower bed plates 41 and placed instead upon an alternate bed plate extending continuously across the frame bar 32 between the rails 5, as shown in Figures 3 and 5, with the motors 51 and grinding wheels 59 in reversed positions, with extensions H connected to the transverse traversing screws.

,. We claim:

1. A machine for grinding locomotive and car wheels comprising a cradle having rollers to engage under spaced portions of the rim of a wheel and support the wheel rotatably thereon, motor means operatively connected to said rollers for rotating the supported wheel, a frame, means mounting said frame on a support for rocking movement conforming to out-of-roundness of the wheel, a motor-driven grinding wheel on said frame, and centering means rigid with said frame having means engageable with the wheel and maintaining axial relation to the wheel whereby said frame is rocked commensurate with out-of-roundness of said wheel and said grinding wheel maintained constantly in contact with the rim of the wheel, said frame-mounting means comprising a support formed with a concavity, a ball bearing resting in said concavity, a frame element having a concave surface resting upon said ball bearing.

2. A machine for grinding locomotive and car wheels comprising a crade having rollers to engage under spaced portions of the rim of a wheel and support the wheel rotatably thereon, motor means operatively connected to said rollers for rotating the supported wheel, a frame, means mounting said frame on a support for rocking movement conforming to out-of-roundness of the wheel, a motor-driven grinding wheel on said frame, and centering means rigid with said frame having means engageable with the wheel and maintaining axial relation to the wheel whereby said frame is rocked commensurate with out-of-roundness of said wheel and said grinding wheel maintained constantly in contact with the rim of the wheel, said frame comprising means supporting said grinding wheel for movement in a direction across the wheel rim and in a direction toward and away from the wheel rim, a rim-contour guide on said frame, and a guide follower 0n the last-mentioned means, and means for operating said last-mentioned means in a manner to cause said guide follower to follow said guide so as to determine the rim contour produced on the wheel by said grinding wheels.

3. A machine for simultaneously grindinga pair of car wheels comprising a separate cradle means for supporting each of said wheels above its associated rail, rollers longitudinally spaced from each other on each of said crad e means and engageable with the adjacent wheel for rotating the wheel while so supported, a frame extending across and above the associated rails and having,

each of its ends projecting beyond the adjacent rail, a motor driven grinding assembly including a grinding wheel positioned on each of the projecting ends of said frame and engageable with the rim of the adjacent car wheel, rollable means for mounting said frame on a support for universal movement on the latter whereby said frame can move relative to said cradle means and the car wheels in response to out-of-roundness of the car wheels, and centering means comprising fixed arms on said frame having car-wheele engaging means arranged to maintain axial alignment with the wheels despite any out-ofroundness therein whereby said grinding wheels are held at set distances from the centers of the wheels and in grinding engagement with the rims of the car wheels despite an out-ofround condition of the car wheel rims.

4. A cradle for elevating a car wheel above a rail and returning the car wheel to rest upon the rail, comprising two longitudinally-spaced boxes having laterally-spaced members to straddle a rail and rest upon rail flanges, set screws in said spaced members for clampably engaging opposite sides of the web of a rail beneath the head thereof, longitudinal bolts extending through portions of said laterally-spaced members and between said boxes, wheel-rim-engaging rollers on said boxes, and nuts on said bolts engaging the outerends of said laterally-spaced portions for drawing said boxes toward each other under circiunferentially-spaced portions of the rim of the car wheel, said nuts being arranged to be backed off to permit the weight of the car wheel to separate said rollers and restore the wheel rim upon the head of the rail.

5. A cradle for elevating a car wheel above a rail and returning the car wheel to rest upon the rail, comprising two longitudinally-spaced boxes having laterally-spaced members to straddle a rail and rest upon rail flanges, set screws in said spaced members for clampably engaging opposite sides of the web of a rail beneath the head thereof, longitudinal bolts extending through portions of said laterally-spaced members and between said boxes, wheel-rim-engaging rollers on said boxes, and nuts on said bolts engaging REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,607,979 Cooney Nov. 23, 1926 1,627,074 Bair et a1. May 3, 1927 2,215,403 McGowan Sept. 17, 1940 

